Temperature regulating system



Sept. 17, 1935. c. E. BRADBURN TEMPERATURE REGULATING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed oct. 17, 19:54

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Sept. 17, 1935. c.'E. BRADBURN TEMPERATURE REGULATING SYSTEM Filed OQt. 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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SWW/who@ Patented Sept. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES 2,014,552 TENIPERA'RE REGULATING SYSTEM Curtis E. Bradburn, Garden City, Kans., assigner of one-fourth to Frank G. Lowe, Holcomb,

Kans. I

Application October 17, 1934, Serial No. '748,740

2' Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus whereby the temperature within motor vehicles or the like can be raised or lowered, one of the objects being to utilize both the hot lubricating oil, and

5 the hot water in the jacket of the engine as heating mediums while, at other times, a liquid chilled by dry ice or other refrigerant can be circulated through the system in lieu of the oil and hot water for the purpose of lowering the temperature.

l With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the l ;claims, it being understood that charges may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying ldrawings the -preferred form of the invention has vbeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of an automobile equipped with the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 Figure l.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus.

Figure 4 is a section through the cooler.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a seat, a portion being broken away to show the dividing partition there- Figurey 6 is a detail view of a portion of the pump operating mechanism.

Referring to the iigures by characters of reference, B designates the closed body of a vehicle provided, in the present instance, with front and rear seats S.

Located under the cowl C preferably in front of the instrument board I is a` transverse ue I V which can be of any preferred cross-sectional contour and is preferably divided by a longitudinal partition 2 into an upper passage 3 and a lower passage 4. Y

The intake end 5 of the ilue can be extended downwardly within the vehicle to an intake open.

ing 6 through which air is adapted to ow into the flue from the interior of the Vehicle. An electric fan 'I can be located in the intake end 5 so that, when in operation, it will set up a forced movement of air through the opening 6 from the vehicle and into the upper and lower passages 3 and 4. l

The outlet end 8 of ue I is extended downwardly within the vehicle and thence rearwardlyA at a convenient point either above or below the oor F, it being understood that the flue can be made of material constituting in itself sufIicient insulating means or it can be covered if desired with an insulating material to protect the air in the ue from the heating or cooling action of the 5 outside air. The rearwardly extending portion 9 of the outlet iiue 8 is provided with a pair of oppositely extending branch flues II) under each seat. S and each of these branch flues of the air distributing system has an outlet II under one 10 side portion of the seat thereover.

The back end of the rearwardly extending flue 9 can open upwardly at I2 into the hollow back s of the rear seat as shown. It is preferred to divide the space under each seat into two sep- 15 arate compartments by means of a partition P so that air discharged into one compartment from one outlet I I will be held apart from air discharged into the other compartment through the outlet II. 20

For the purpose of controlling the ilow of air to the branch flues of the distributing system a damper I3 is located in each of said branch flues, the same being shiftable by means of rods I4 or the like readily accessible from within the vehicle. 25 A similar damper I5 is located adjacent to the rear outlet I2 and within flue 9 for controlling the escape of air through the opening I2.` This damper can likewise be actuated by a rod I6-.or the like readily accessible from within the ve- 30 hicle.

Located within the upper passage 3 in flue I is a coil I1 and anothercoil I8 is located in the lower passage 4.

A pipe I9 extends to oneend of coil I'| from 35 a pump 2D and this pump, in turn, is adapted to be supplied with oil through a pipe 2| from the crank case A of the engine. Another pipe 22 leads from the other or outlet end of coil I1 to the crank case. A'valve 23 is located in pipe I9 40 and another valve 24 is located in pipe 22 so that the flow of oil to and from coil I1 can be controlled.

A pipe 25 connects the inlet end'of coil I8 to a pump 26. and said pump, in turn, is connected by 45 a pipe 21.to a cooler 28 located preferably on the floor F back of the front seat where it can be used as a foot rest. Another pipe 29 extends from the other or outlet end of coil I8 to the cooler 28 and a valve 30 in pipe 25 and valve 3| 50 in pipe 29 provide means whereby the flow of a cooling medium to and. from coil I8 can be controlled.

Aoby-pass 32 connects the pipes I9 and 25 close to the coils ITI and I8 and has a valve 33. 55

Another by-pass 34 connects the pipes 22 and 29 close to the coils and has a. valve 35.

Opening into pipe 25 in line with by-pass 32 is a pipe 36 which leads to the water jacket of the engine E and this pipe has a valve 31. Another pipe 38 opens into coil I8 and is preferably alined with by-pass 34. This pipe also extends to the water jacket of engine E and has a valve 39.

The pumps 20 and 26 are preferably of the rotary type, each being provided with a sprocket 4I). A drive sprocket 4I is located adjacent to the pumps and equally distant from the sprockets 40 so that a chain 42 carried by sprocket 4I can be adjusted to engage either of the sprockets 40 and thereby drive either pump. Obviously instead of sprockets and a chain, pulleys and a belt or any other well known power transmitting mechanism can be employed.

For the purpose of transmitting motion to the sprocket 4I a gear 43 can be mounted to rotate therewith, this gear being adapted to rcceive motion from a gear 44 carried by a flexible shaft 45 or the like receiving motion through gears 46 from the transmission of the engine.

The cooler 28 is preferably formed of an inner container 41 for holding a liquid which can be used as a circulating medium, this container being in communication with the pipes 21 and 29. The container is surrounded by a casing 48 spaced therefrom so that the area surrounding the container 41 can be lled with a suitable refrigerant, which can be dry ice D. The casing 48, in turn, can be covered with an insulating material as shown at 49.

It is to be understood that the coils can be provided with detachable couplings whereby they can be readily disconnected at their ends from their pipes so as to permit cleaning and draining. Furthermore the term coil as used in the description and claims, is to be construed as dening any suitable conductor which can be used as a heat transfer device when a temperature regulating medium is circulating therethrough.

In warm weather, when it is desired to cool the interior of the vehicle, the pump 26 is coupled to its driving mechanism, valves 23, 31, 39 and 24 are closed while valves 30, 33, 35 and 3| are opened. Fan 1 is set in motion and will cause air to circulate within the vehicle, air being sucked into the intake flue 5 through opening 6 and forced along the passages 3 and 4 to ues 8 and 9 and thence through the distributing flues into the seats from which it will flow through the porous material of the seats. During this circulation the pump 26 can be driven by the engine of the vehicle and will set up a forced circulation of fluid from pipe 21 and container 41 into pipe 25 and thence directly into coil I8 and through by-pass 32 into coil I1.

From these coils the uid will ow from coil I1 through by-pass 34 to pipe 29 and from coil I 8 directly into said pipe so that the fluid will be returned to container 41. Here the temperature of the uid will be lowered by the refrigerant 5 and the circulation continued. Obviously the circulation of air set up by the fan 1 will cause the air to travel in two columns within the passages 3 and' 4 at which time its temperature will be lower because of its contact with the chilled 10 coils. Thus the air will be discharged into the vehicle body at a lowered temperature.

Should it be desired to heat the interior of the vehicle those valves which had been opened during the cooling operation are closed while 15 the valves which had been closed are opened. In other words the valves 3U, 33, 35 and 3I are closed while valves 23, 31, 39 and 24 are opened. Pump 26.is disconnected from its driving mechanism while pump 20 is connected to said mechanism. 20 Thus when the engine transmission is operated motion will be transmitted therefrom to the pump 28 and a forced circulation of oil through coil I1 from crank case A will be set up. At the same time hot water from the jacket of the en 25 gine will flow through coil I8 by way of pipes 36 and 38. As both the oil and the Water are at high temperatures due to heat generated by the engine, the circulation of air through the interior of the vehicle by fan 1 will obviously result in 30 raising the temperature of the air.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with the engine of a motor vehicle having a crank case for holding oil and having a cooling system including a water jacket, of an air ilue having separate passages therein and provided with an inlet and an outlet, means for producing a forced circulation of air through the air ue from the inlet to the outlet,

a coil in each passage, valved pipe connections between the respective ends of one of the coils and the crank case, a pump in one of said connections, means for actuating the pump, and valved pipe connections between the respective ends of the other coil and the water jacket.

2. The combination with the engine of a motor vehicle, of an air flue having separate passages therein and provided with an inlet and an outlet, means for producing a forced circulation of air through the air ue from the inlet to the out- 50 let, a coil in each passage for contact by the air owing through the flue, separate containers of temperature regulating fluids,. valved pipe connections between the respective ends of one of the coils and one of said containers, valved pipe connections between the respective ends of the other coil and the other container, a pump in one of said connections, and means operated by the engine for actuating the pump.

CURTIS E. BRADBURN. 

